Essences of Minecraft
by EmilyArtypants
Summary: One day, Wilber is mining, and suddenly a sand block turns into a girl, dragging Wilber into a dimension of his world he never knew existed. The Essences -the spirits of the mobs and blocks and everything else- are preparing to go to war with another Essence called Villager, and Wilber himself must fire the final shot.
1. Chapter 1

Wilber mined happily along, humming tunelessly to himself. He was a loner, meaning he didn't live with the villagers, but that was fine. Wilber's mind was full of plans for what he would do with the Redstone he hoped to find today, and for how his next section of tunnels would be laid out. Wilber didn't know that these minutes were the last he would spend with the calm delusion that he was the only sentient being in this world.

The villagers were NPCs, which meant that they didn't think, they didn't talk, and the only things they were capable of doing were running from zombies and ripping Wilber off. They weren't sentient. Far from it, actually.

Wilber mined through some stone and came face to face with a single sand block. Strange. Wilber shrugged. He mined the stone block above it, then he pulled out his shovel and had it raised in anticipation of digging through the sand when it happened. The sand block changed shape, becoming a girl.

She had long, sand coloured hair, and her eyes and skin were that same colour. She was wearing a dark green t-shirt and jeans, and she was just a bit shorter than Wilber. She looked up at him, and Wilber realized that he was frozen in shock, his shovel still raised over his head and his mouth open. He tried to say something, but the most he could do was squeak.

"Can you put that down, please? You're making me really nervous." Said the girl. Wilber lowered his shovel. "Who…" He managed to say. The girl held out her hand, but Wilber was too scared to shake it. "I'm Sand." She said. There was a pause, and then she continued. "I guess that deserves an explanation. Could you lead me out of this place, please?"

Wilber managed to remember to close his mouth, and then he led Sand out of his branch mine. He climbed up the ladder to the top of his main shaft, and in his room at the top, he sat down heavily on his bed, staring at Sand.

She sat down carefully on Wilber's chair, and she looked at him, seemingly waiting for him to say something. "How…?" He asked. Sand sighed. "Why me?" She asked nobody in particular. Then she said "It's a long explanation, and I have to start at the beginning to get to how I got into your mine. Do you mind?" Wilber didn't say anything.

Sand sighed again. "Everything -mobs, blocks, water and lava- has a… a spirit of sorts, called an Essence. Essences are people like me." She looked at Wilber to see if he was getting it. "I am the Essence of sand. How I got in your mine? Essences have certain powers, and one of them is to teleport to wherever something that they are the Essence of is. We can also turn ourselves into what we are the Essence of." To demonstrate her point, Sand suddenly blurred into a sand block.

As she blurred back, Wilber squeaked "Why?" Sand sighed again. "We need your help." Wilber stared at her. He took a deep breath. "Could you… explain?" Sand nodded. "One of us, Villager, had a violent row with Stone, another Essence, about a week ago, and she left when we all asserted that Stone was right. Villager is excellent at overreacting, and she is preparing to declare war on the lot of us. You are the only player in the world, so we need you to help."

Wilber was freaking out. Sand could see that, and she suggested that he go to sleep, since it was late anyway. Wilber didn't protest, and soon he was asleep.

* * *

"Is that what's taking you so long? You're letting the Player sleep?" Wilber woke slightly to hear a voice. He remembered everything, but that wasn't Sand's voice. "He couldn't take it. If I'd dragged him out, he would have collapsed or something." That was Sand. The other voice was older. Male.

Wilber opened his eyes and rolled over to look at the table. Sand was standing beside it, and in Wilber's chair was a man with grey hair, and -oddly- dark grey eyes. He didn't look very friendly, and he gave Wilber a look like something was his fault.

Wilber sat up, and Sand gestured to the man, saying; "Player, meet Stone. He's impatient that we get going, so could you please wake up?" Wilber sat up, and immediately Stone rose out of the chair. "Well, come on, boy." He said.

It was early morning out, and Wilber followed Sand and Stone outside. Stone turned to the younger… Essence? and said "I'll get everyone down to the fort. You get Glass and Sandstone and Cactus and Player and meet us all there." Sand nodded. "I'll get Enderman, too. You know he won't listen to a word you say."

"Player?" Wilber asked, as Stone teleported. "You." Sand said. Then she walked towards the edge of the plains biome, towards a desert Wilber knew a bit. As they walked, Wilber kept turning it all over in his mind, trying to find a way to accept it. Finally he decided to say; "My name's Wilber. Not Player." "Right." Sand said. "But you're almost -not quite, but almost- an Essence too. Because you represent Players here." Wilber nodded, and then he saw the desert, and new questions appeared in his mind. "Who are… Sandstone and Glass and Cactus?"

Sand smiled a bit. "You'll meet them soon enough." The sand crunched under their feet as they entered the desert biome, and soon Sand stopped. "Come out, sister." A girl appeared, taller than Sand but with the same hair and eye colour. She was wearing a dark purple shirt and skinny jeans.

"Sister," Sand said, "We're meeting." Sandstone looked at her, then at Wilber. Her mouth twisted into a sneer. "They sent you to get the player? Ugh!" Sand sighed, and at that moment, two other Essences appeared. One was a small boy with dark green hair and cactus-coloured eyes. The other was a girl so pale that Wilber would have sworn she was almost clear.

The clear girl had her arms around the green boy's neck, and she detached herself and ran up to Sand. The clear girl hugged her tightly, and Sand turned to Wilber. "This is my daughter, Glass." She said. Seeing Wilber's expression, she added; "Spiritually, at least. Essences don't have children."

The green boy had walked up to Wilber, and he was eyeing him curiously. Then he put one hand on Wilber's arm, and Wilber jumped away as he took damage. "I- I'm assuming you're Cactus?" He gasped. Cactus nodded.

Sand sighed, disentangling Glass from around her waist. "We're meeting at the fort. I'll be meeting you there." Glass sighed, and one by one, she and Sandstone and Cactus disappeared. Sand smiled slightly, then she turned around to face Wilber. "Uh." He said. "Who… who's next?"

"Enderman." Sand said. Then she turned slightly, facing in the direction with the most hostile mobs, cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled "ENDERMAN!" There was a flurry of purple snow, and an Enderman appeared beside Sand. It blurred and became a boy with straight black hair, pink eyes, and a sour expression. He almost disappeared into the night, because he was wearing all black, but he was muttering to himself.

"…not my loss, what do I care? They can all take their…" Enderman muttered. Then his head snapped up and he glared at Sand. "What?" He snapped. "We are meeting in the fort." Sand said levelly. "It's about the Villager issue." Enderman's eyes briefly flashed, and then he teleported away. Wilber caught him talking to himself again before he left. "…but no, they've got me answering their every stinking call…"

"Uh. He… he's not very nice, is he?" Wilber asked a bit tentatively. Sand shrugged. "Well, we're not very nice to him, so we kind of deserve it. Come on." She said, holding out one hand to Wilber. He cautiously took it, and there was a peculiar sensation of weightlessness, then he was standing in the middle of a room.

"Right." Sand said. "Are we all here?"


	2. Chapter 2

The room was made of stone bricks, and one wall was lined with different blocks, apparently so that the Essences could teleport there. There was a hallway leading off the room, and Wilber could hear animal noises from it. That mean that the mob Essences could teleport here too.

They were all sitting at a large table, waiting for one more person. Stone appeared next to the block-lined wall and straightened up. "That's all the people I can find in a hurry. We have to start now."

Sand nodded, and then she said; "Creeper? You've been doing recon- what do you know about Villager's movements?" A girl who was sitting next to Enderman stood up, revealing that her green shirt had a creeper face on it. She had blond hair and black eyes, and when she started talking, there was a hissing undertone to her voice.

"Villager is training all the villagers to fight well, and their numbers are much higher than we previously thought. She could move on us at any time." Creeper nodded and sat down. Sand took a deep breath and let it out. Somehow she seemed to be in charge, and she was just as obviously not used to it.

"I see. What are we going to do about it?" She asked. A boy dressed in red with blond hair stood up, and the way the light caught his hair made it look like it was on fire. "We're going to take that harpy Villager and blow her ass to kingdom come!" He slammed one fist down on the table.

"Lava," said a girl sitting across from him. "We don't have the strength or numbers to do that. So sit back down." The girl was wearing a shimmering blue dress, and her eyes matched it. Her light brown hair seemed oddly out of place.

Lava growled. "Sissies." He muttered. "What was that?" The blue girl snapped. "Sissies." Lava said louder. The blue girl stood up, and she placed both hands flat on the table to lean forward. "You." she said "Can sissy yourself!"

Lava drew one hand back and slapped the girl -who Wilber guessed was Water- open-handed. There was a hissing sound, like when you pour water on something hot, and Water fell back into her seat. A voice from behind her said "Do you mind? That's frigging uncomfortable!"

The voice came from a girl. She was very small, and she had long black hair and black eyes. Her clothes were a patterned black, unlike Enderman's. She sneezed. "And where am I going to sit?" Water drew a chair up next to her, and the new girl sat down. "Sorry." Water said. "But somebody decided to get violent."

Who could this new girl be? It hit Wilber- she was Obsidian. Lava plus Water made obsidian! Sand stood up, obviously trying to get the meeting under control again. "We need to decide what we're each going to do. Mobs… mobs should warn their people of what's going on. Blocks can conduct further reconnaissance and preparation. We need to be prepared for when Villager moves."

There were nods all around, apart from those that appeared to be hostile mobs. Most of them just grunted in acknowledgement. Then the Essences began to teleport away, eventually leaving Wilber and Sand and Stone alone.

"Stone, we should stay with Wilber. Introduce him to the other Essences." Sand said. Stone nodded. "You have things to do. I'll take him to see my kids." He said. Not even smiling, he reached over and grabbed Wilber's arm.

After gravity reasserted itself, Wilber looked around curiously. He was in a clearing in the forest, and there were several different kinds of blocks placed in the center. Cobblestone, stone bricks, and all the different kinds of ore…

Wilber jumped as each block became a boy. They all had Stone's dark grey hair, but all but two had coloured streaks in it. "He- hello." Wilber said. He still wasn't used to all this. Of the two who didn't have colour streaks in their hair, one's hair was untidy and a bit dirty, the other's was neatly combed. The others' coloured bands were all different colours; black, blue, green, yellow, red and sort of pinkish.

"So?" Stone asked. "What have you found out?" Stone paced back and forth as each one gave his report. All the news was more and more troubling, ending when the boy with red-striped hair -who introduced himself as Redstone Ore- announced that TNT had been captured by Villager.

"Alright." Stone said to himself. "Diamond, you tell Sand about this. Emerald, you keep giving Villager the impression that you're on her side, go trade stuff. Coal and Iron, go to Sand and find where you're needed most. Gold, Cobblestone, Stone Bricks, you go with them." They all teleported away. "And I?" Redstone asked, turning towards his father.

"Redstone…" Just for a moment, Stone looked older, more worn, exhausted. "You go bust TNT out." Redstone seemed surprised. "But father, you know what happens when I touch TNT." "That's why I'm sending you, kid." Stone growled. "Now get on with it!" Redstone nodded. "Yes, father." He left.

"Where are we going now?" Wilber asked. Stone held out his hand, and Wilber took it.

* * *

Wilber wasn't prepared to appear among hostile mobs. He was even less prepared for the fact that none of them were attacking him or Stone. Stone led him through the crowd to a space that the mobs were avoiding, crowding everywhere but there. In that space was a table, and there were four Essences standing around it.

One of them was the girl with the hissing voice and the creeper hoodie- Creeper, from the meeting. A second was an albino girl who was very thin and wearing all grey. She was holding a bow, and there was a quiver of arrows slung over her back. The third was a boy with black hair and glowing eyes, but it wasn't Enderman. His eyes were red. He was twitching like he couldn't stay still, and he was muttering to himself, just like Enderman had, only he was hissing and spitting like a spider. The fourth was a boy with dark green skin and blackish hair. His eyes were unfocused and his clothes were ragged, and there was a gash along the side of his face that wasn't bleeding.

"Spider, are you sure your information is correct?" Creeper asked. The boy with glowing eyes looked up "Am I sure?" His voice sounded like he was a spider trying to speak, not a human. He jerked his head at the map. "Yes I'm sure! Villager is almost in place!" "Okay." Creeper said, taking a breath. "Skeleton, do you think you can head villager off? Can your archers get there in time?"

The albino girl nodded. "I believe we can. When should I set off?" She asked. There was a peculiarly hollow quality to her voice, like it was echoing inside her. "Now." Creeper said. "And take Zombie with you, his people can infect the villagers." Skeleton nodded sharply and walked off, dragging the green boy behind her.

"Hello Creeper, Spider." Stone said. "Meet Wilber. He's the Player." Creeper nodded. Spider twitched his head and spat on the ground, his face twisting into a sneer. "Uh. Hi." Wilber said. "Is there anything I can do to help?" It slipped out without asking, and Creeper took it seriously. She bent over the map on the table. "Let me show you where everything is, first."

Creeper pointed. "Here's the village. Villager has troops stationed all around it, according to Spider, and she's working on building barricades. I just sent Skeleton to interrupt her building efforts with flaming arrows and stuff like that. The fort-" She pointed to a spot in the middle of the forest, "-is here, deep underground. We are here." She pointed to a spot between the fort and the village.

She looked critically at Wilber. "How good are you with a bow?" she asked. "Uh. Not bad." Wilber said. Creeper nodded. "If you hurry, you can catch up with Skeleton and help her light a fire under Villager's ass." Wilber nodded. Creeper and Stone sent him off in the right direction, and off he went.

* * *

"What's the news?" Creeper asked as Wilber ran off. Stone shook his head. "Not promising. Villager is much farther ahead than we expected, and TNT's been taken prisoner." Creeper hissed, momentarily glowing white. Stone stepped away, but she got her anger under control and asked "Does Sand know?" Stone shook his head. "No, but I sent Redstone to get him out. I'll tell Sand myself." Then he left, leaving Spider and Creeper alone.


	3. Chapter 3

Redstone crouched in a tree, watching the activity in the village. He could see Villager in the square, directing things. The villagers were holding weapons, and they were building earthen walls. Redstone wished that he had a bow so that he could take Villager out right then and there. He wished that he knew where TNT was being held. Sure, the kid was unstable and annoying, but still.

"Looky 'ere, Bert, wot's this?" Redstone looked down to see a pair of villagers -with wicked sharp diamond swords- on the ground below. Bert pulled out an axe and cut the bottom block of the tree. The rest of the tree disappeared, and Redstone fell to the ground. He leapt to his feet, but there were more villagers around him, all wielding swords. Redstone tried to fight, but the villagers attacked.

Their swords bit into him all over, and a hundred parts of his body screamed in pain. The longer he fought, the worse it became, until he fell to the ground, unable to stand up. He tried to get up, but his arms screamed in agony, and then someone pressed a sword into the back of his neck. "Alright, Red. You'll come with me, or I will tell my people to attack." Redstone's blood ran cold. Villager.

* * *

"Player? You're here to help?" Skeleton looked astonished. Wilber nodded. "I… I don't have a bow, though." Skeleton got him one, and then she got him to walk next to the Skeletons, who were marching in a line, one next to the other.

They stopped near the edge of the forest, and Skeleton then ordered the column to walk forwards slowly. They were right on the edge of the trees when she gave the order to draw their bows. There was a long second after Wilber drew the bow where he felt his arm muscles trembling with the exertion, then Skeleton shouted "Fire!" and he was allowed to let go.

At the peak of their arc, the arrows spontaneously caught fire, and then the burning projectiles rained down on the villagers who were building dirt walls eighty blocks away. The villagers turned, suddenly wielding swords, and they charged. "Fire at will!" Shouted Skeleton, and the archers drew arrow after arrow from their quivers, shooting them at the approaching villagers.

* * *

Villager made Redstone walk through the village, even though every movement made him feel like his skin was in fire. He could hear shouting from the other side of the village, like the place was under attack, but Redstone knew that they couldn't rescue him.

The villagers threw rocks at him and jeered as Villager dragged him roughly through the streets. One of the rocks caught him on the cheek, and he put a hand to his face and drew it away bloody. Finally they reached a certain building, just when Redstone was beginning to stop caring that he'd come here to get TNT.

Villager threw the door open and dragged Redstone down a long, steep flight of stairs. At the bottom there was a hallway, and she shoved Redstone through the second door, slamming it behind him. Redstone lay on the cell floor for what felt like ages before he became aware that he was hearing something. It sounded like someone was humming.

Humming! Redstone pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. That was TNT's most annoying habit! He must be in the other cell!

Redstone dug his fingers into the dirt of the wall, over and over. It hurt, and the dirt stung the half healed cuts on his hands, but when the block dropped, Redstone saw who was on the other side. TNT was small, and he was sitting on the opposite side of the cell, smiling and humming to himself. His hair was blond, but his eyes were bright red- the same colour as his shorts and t-shirt.

His eyes widened when he saw Redstone. "We need to get out of here!" Redstone hissed. TNT stared at him. "How?" he asked. Redstone rolled his eyes. "Come here!" TNT crawled over to the hole. Redstone slapped him across the face, then dove to the other side of his cell. TNT giggled to himself as he glowed white, and then there was an explosion.

When the dust cleared, TNT was sitting in the middle of the crater, humming to himself again. Most of the wall was blown away, and there was a big enough hole in the cell wall that they could squeeze into the hallway.

Halfway up the stairs, they encountered a group of villagers. Redstone slapped TNT again, and the villagers died. Redstone picked up one of their diamond swords and climbed up the other side of the crater to keep going up the stairs.

TNT had armed himself, too, so the next group of villagers was dealt with without any explosions. They reached the top of the stairs and ran outside. "There!" They heard Villager yell. "Get them!" Redstone and TNT fought through the villagers, but too often Redstone was forced to slap TNT, and every time he did that, he took damage too.

Then a sword caught him in the leg, and he screamed.

* * *

The skeletons and Wilber shot volley after volley of arrows, but the villagers kept coming. Skeleton knew that more villagers would always spawn, keeping the number of live ones about the same. Then she heard a scream from the direction of the village. "Redstone?" She asked incredulously.

Skeleton dashed through the ranks of the villagers, reverting to her Essential form -a skeleton- as she did so, minimizing the amount she bled. She shot arrows and hit the villagers with her bow, and she could hear someone behind her. A quick glance confirmed it was Wilber.

At the first building, Wilber gave Skeleton a boost, giving her a lift onto the roof. Skeleton reached down and pulled Wilber up after her. The two ran across the roofs, shooting arrows, until they located Redstone- and TNT. They were fighting, but they weren't doing so hot.

Skeleton and Wilber both fired arrows at the villagers who had surrounded the two Essences, and the villagers -and Villager- were caught by surprise. Then Wilber ran out of arrows. The skeletons had infinite supplies, but his own number of arrows was limited, and he had just reached that limit. Unfazed, he jumped into the crowd, wielding his bow like a sword.

Skeleton continued to fire on the villagers as Wilber dragged TNT and Redstone back towards the building that Skeleton was standing on. He grabbed TNT around the ankles and lifted him up so he could get onto the roof, then he turned to Redstone, who was fighting off the villagers.

Redstone gave Wilber a boost, and then Wilber dragged the Essence up after him. They ran along- or Skeleton, TNT and Wilber ran. Redstone was too injured. He barely managed to make the first jump between roofs, and he lagged behind, wheezing and clutching his side.

But then Wilber was there. At the next jump, Wilber placed his hands under Redstone's arms, and they jumped across together. Then they reached the edge of the village, and they jumped off the roof. Wilber twisted his ankle when he landed, and pain shot up his leg. This time it was Redstone who came to his aid, helping him along as they ran as fast as they could towards the forest.

"Retreat!" Skeleton yelled, and her archers walked back into the forest, covering their escape with a storm of arrows. The daylight shone across the plain, where too many skeletons lay, out of action.


	4. Chapter 4

Sand held an impromptu meeting in the forest above where the fort was. Redstone was there, and so were Skeleton and Wilber and Stone and TNT. Obsidian had shown up too, representing Water and Lava, who were both busy.

"Let's get to business. Has anyone seen Enderman lately?" Sand ran the fingers of one hand through her hair. Stone shook his head, looking worried. "Do you think he's gone to Villager's side?" Sand took a deep breath. "No." She decided. "It's not his style. But have you seen him?"

Skeleton, back in human form, raised a hand. "I haven't, but Creeper said that she'd talked to him." Sand nodded. She looked at Redstone. "Are you okay? Can you report?" Redstone nodded. He took a step forward, but then he gasped and stumbled. He put out his hand to grab something to steady him- and the handhold he found was TNT's shoulder. TNT started to glow white, and everyone was too shocked to do anything. No. Not everyone.

Obsidian tackled TNT, pinning him to the ground under her body. Then he exploded, and Wilber's yell of "No!" was lost in the sound. But then the smoke cleared, and in the crater were TNT and Obsidian, both of them looking perfectly fine.

There was silence for a little while, then Skeleton asked "Well, what are we doing now?" Sand took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "We need to move on Villager before it's too late. Round everyone up, make sure they're armed. Get all the mobs together, too. Meet up at the place where the hostile mobs were organizing. We'll march as soon as everyone is there."

* * *

There were maybe two dozen Essences in the clearing where the hostile mobs had been organizing things from, and in total there were maybe four hundred mobs- hostile and passive. Cow and Pig and Sheep and Chicken sort of huddled together looking nervous.

The tension in the air was so thick you could almost cut it with a sword. And the Essences were taking out their anxiety on each other. Sand had to break up a fight with Lava and Coal (did you know that Coal caught fire when he touched Lava?) on one side and Water and Gravel on the other.

Gravel had hair that was lighter grey than Stone's but he looked young. He and Sand stood together a little way away from the group, not saying anything. Sand was shaking with nervousness; she was in charge, and that meant that she would be blamed if it went wrong.

Gravel walked up to her and put one arm around her shoulder. "It's alright, sis." He whispered. "I'll keep you safe. I'll make sure that nothing happens to you."

* * *

Enderman paced the edge of the group of Essences, muttering to himself. Spider, on the other side of the clearing, almost mirrored his movement, twitching and occasionally giggling. Enderman was more controlled, but the other Essences were giving him a wide berth, having learned the hard way that approaching Enderman in any sort of bad mood was not a smart plan.

Skeleton and Creeper were discussing last-minute strategy, but the point wasn't to come up with changes to the already-laid-down plans. The point was to keep their minds occupied, to keep them from deteriorating into the violent anxiety that both Enderman and Spider were experiencing.

Stone and his children had all reverted to block form to try and slow down their nervousness.

Sand walked into the clearing. "Who are we waiting for?" She asked. Gravel slipped in behind her and went to stand beside Redstone. "We're just waiting for a couple of skeletons to come back from doing some recon. We want to make sure that we know where Villager is stationing her troops." Creeper said. Sand nodded, trying not to show how nervous she was. "Get your people into their ranks. We'll be marching before the night is out."

Wilber fiddled with his bow. He'd only joined these people the night before, and now he was marching into war with them? It seemed crazy, but somehow it felt right. Then two skeletons ran into the clearing. They talked with Skeleton for a few moments, then left to join the other archers. Skeleton relayed their information to Creeper, who examined the map for a few moments.

Then she nodded. "We're in the right positions." She straightened up. "We're ready."

* * *

They were in position, just waiting for the signal. Wilber was standing among the Essences who weren't commanding their people, and he could see Sand looking ahead, out of the forest. Then she put her fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly.

Zombie and his compatriots emerged from the trees, infecting any villagers unlucky enough to be out and swelling their ranks. The Skeletons marched behind them, raining arrows on the villagers who ran out to defend their fellows.

Creeper's force came next, and the sound of explosions could be heard from all over the battlefield. Endermen teleported in and out dealing villagers damage wherever they appeared.

They heard Villager's screams of rage, and they cheered, but then things began to go wrong. Sand fought as hard as she could, but the villagers were forming ranks, and with the element of surprise gone, they started to lose.

Sand fought alongside Gravel and Skeleton, hacking at villagers with her sword. Gravel distracted a villager, and then a spider leapt up and gave it a fatal bite on the neck. Skeleton shot a villager full of arrows, then knocked another unconscious with her bow. Sand wasn't sure how she was managing to stay alive, but she was still fighting.

But she knew they were losing. In the middle of the fight, she turned to Gravel and said "Quick! You need to get Lava and go get the Nether Essences! We're losing!" Gravel's face turned pale. "But-" "No buts!" Sand yelled. "Go!"

Gravel ran off, and in the path that cleared, Sand caught a glimpse of Redstone and TNT working together. Redstone looked like he'd been through the Nether and back, but they were still alive. Sand and Skeleton were fighting back to back now, and Sand both heard and felt when Skeleton fell.

Sand whipped around to see her friend lying on the ground, the right side of her body covered in blood. Something hit Sand hard in the side of her head, and stars popped up in front of her eyes. She fell forward, and the last thing she saw was a villager stomping on Skeleton's head, crushing her, totally and completely.


	5. Chapter 5

When Sand woke up, it was quiet. She was lying on grass, and there was someone gently brushing her hair out of her face. She moved weakly, but Gravel's voice said "Shh…" and she fell asleep again.

* * *

The clearing above the fort was Essence-only territory, but there was enough violent emotions there for a whole horde of hostile mobs. From what Sand had heard, Gravel and Lava had rushed back when the Nether Essences wouldn't cooperate, but their attack had already been turning into a rout. Gravel had had to go back into the thick of things to rescue her, and he'd barely made it out alive.

There had been casualties. Over half their force was gone, and Skeleton was dead. Without their Essence, the remaining skeletons had turned into rogues, shooting anything- mob, Essence, or villager. Almost all of the casualties had been creepers and Endermen, although there were a great deal of passive mobs down.

"Put a sock in it, Enderman!" Creeper yelled. "I lost more creepers than you did Endermen!" Enderman's eyes glowed brilliant pink, a sign that he was very angry. "There are nearly twice as many creepers as Endermen to begin with! There's less than forty of us left!"

Sand just stood there, Gravel's arm around her shoulders, wondering how she could have let this happen. Creeper and Enderman weren't the only ones losing their grip. Spider looked like he was short-circuiting, and every so often he would break down into sobs. TNT was exhausted from exploding, and he was snoozing against a tree while Redstone lay on the ground, unconscious and bandaged.

"I don't see why I should fight for you any longer! You lot've killed almost all of my people!" Enderman yelled, and Sand could hear his voice cracking with something that rarely applied to him; emotion. Enderman was nearly crying.

Water stood up from her seat next to Obsidian. "Enderman, you can't leave-" She said, but Enderman interrupted. "Why not?! Why the hell not?! Why should I stay?!" He shouted, clenching his hands into fists. "Because we need you, Enderman! We need you!" Water said.

"I. DON'T. CARE!" Enderman screamed. Water stared at him. "I didn't want to fight! But you dragged me along and now look! I've lost almost all of my kind, and you're all still acting like I owe you something!" Water took a deep breath and held out her hand. "Enderman," She said, her voice dangerously quiet, "If you don't want to stay, then I will make you."

Water advanced on Enderman, and he backed away. The look on his face showed pure terror, but Water didn't let him get away. Eventually he reached a tree, and with his back pressed against it, he couldn't run any farther. Water put one hand on his face, and Enderman flashed red the way people do when they take damage. He screamed in pain, and he disappeared, reappearing at the opposite end of the clearing.

"Your loss." He hissed, before teleporting away. Before he'd left, Wilber had seen a red mark on the side of his face, like Water had hit him instead of just touching him. Water stared at the place where he'd been. "What did I do?" She asked, but it was too late. Enderman was gone.

They had even less chance of winning now.

* * *

Sand had decided to pull herself together, hiding her grief on the inside. She had gone to check on her troops, and the news was not good. There were less than a hundred mobs left total, and barely forty were in fighting condition. Most of the passive mobs had bolted, and every single Essence was injured.

Including her. Sand had a bandage around her head, and every so often she would feel dizzy and have to sit down. Having the Endermen would have almost doubled their numbers, but they would have to fight without the irascible Essence and his compatriots now.

Creepers had been stationed as guards and watchmobs, positions that would normally have been filled by skeletons. Sand shook her head. Don't think about it, don't think about it…

Then Creeper ran up. She had a bandage around one arm, but she was ignoring it. "Sand." She gasped. "Villager's advancing on us." Sand put her face in her hands for a moment, then she mentally told herself to get it together and looked up. "We'll retreat." She said. "We can't fight Villager like this." Creeper nodded, then she turned and hissed orders to two of her lieutenants, who ran off to spread the orders. Sand heard Stone and Spider and the others start shouting to get people moving.

In a few minutes they were off, the spiders carrying the wounded and the creepers bringing up the rear. At Gravel's insistence, Spider had reverted to his Essential form and was letting Sand ride on his back. Sand spoke with Creeper as they marched. "So, do you have an estimate on Villager's numbers?"

Creeper nodded. "She took heavy casualties, too. She's only got about a hundred to a hundred and fifty villagers left." Sand swallowed. "You know, if we had Enderman… and Skeleton…" Creeper put a hand on her shoulder, an act of compassion that felt out of character. "I know, girl. But you're doing great."

Sand couldn't see how this could be defined as 'great', but she didn't say anything. Then, up ahead, she saw the end of the forest and the beginning of a hills biome. "Gravel." She said. "We're going to set up base on top of a hill." Sand's brother looked at her like she was crazy, but Stone pointed out that it would be harder for Villager to attack them uphill.

At the bottom of the nearest hill, Sand got off Spider's back and started giving orders. She felt more comfortable with it now, but time was still of the essence. Those who were well enough started getting everyone else up the hill, and they worked into the night getting the weak and injured to the defensible mountaintop.

A creeper sprinted up to the group of Essences and hissed something. Creeper, who had just reached the group at the top of the hill carrying an armful of supplies, nodded and turned to Sand. "Villager's stopped for the night. Do we attack, or do we wait?"

Sand thought. Then she looked at her weary friends; Creeper, Spider, Zombie. Stone, Cactus, Lava, Gravel, the ores and all the others. "We wait." She decided. "We're in a defensible spot anyway, and we all need to rest."

The decision was relayed to the soldiers, and they all went to sleep, save some creepers and spiders and zombies (apart from the zombies, they did actually need to sleep- they just usually did in the day) who were stationed around the mountaintop in case Villager should mount a surprise attack.

Wilber, exhausted by his second night among the Essences, counted stars for only a few minutes before he, too, fell asleep, clutching his bow like a teddy bear.


	6. Chapter 6

It was the morning sun that woke Wilber. He sat up, stiff from having slept on the ground, and stood up. The mountaintop was barely large enough to accommodate everyone standing up, and sleeping, it was a miracle they all fit. Wilber carefully stepped his way to the edge of the hill, to where there were mobs watching for the enemy.

"Is she still in the same place?" He asked a creeper, but the creeper just gave him a blank look. "Right, they don't speak English…" Wilber muttered. He looked through his very empty inventory and found a half eaten loaf of bread. He hungrily munched it down, and then he gasped when someone touched him from behind.

Creeper pounded the choking Wilber on the back until he could breathe again, and then she asked his question to the creeper that was there. It nodded. "She's still in the same spot." Creeper said. Then she asked another question in creeper. "Good idea, sending out patrols." She whispered to herself. "I should have bloody well thought of that…"

Slowly people began to wake up, and Wilber helped Sand ration out their minimal first aid supplies to those in need. Redstone accepted the medication, but he stubbornly refused to lie down, insisting that he was going to fight with them when Villager finally attacked.

Glass and Cactus were both quiet. Having held back, Glass was among the least injured, but Cactus had a nasty cut on his face and his jacket was torn. Obsidian was uninjured, save for some potion damage, due to her hardness as a block, but most of the ores were in conditions similar to Redstone's.

Sand sorted through her warriors, sending those who were in fighting condition to form ranks on the forest side of the mountain. Twenty spiders. Maybe a dozen creepers. Barely two dozen zombies. Four Endermen who had stayed of their own accord. Nine Essences left able to fight.

Sand pulled Wilber aside. "Player, you've got the only bow left in the army. I want you to stay here at the top of the hill and shoot Villager when she comes out. Can you do that?" Wilber had said yes. It was torture to draw the bow -the string bit into his fingers every time he did- but he had to. It was the only way that they might be able to win.

It was late morning when Villager attacked. The villagers were attacking uphill, but they had greater numbers. Wilber fired as many arrows as he dared, but Villager hadn't made her appearance yet, so he couldn't use them all.

A few villagers broke out of the fray and tried to get past Wilber. He ditched his bow in his inventory and hacked at them with Iron Ore's sword. Iron had been too injured to stand, much less fight, so he'd given his iron (of course) sword to Wilber.

* * *

The villagers attacked with an unbelievable ferocity that pushed through even the most careful tactics. Sand and Gravel fought back-to-back, and for the rest of her life, Sand's memories of the battle were fragmented. Coal catching on fire and fighting like that. Redstone, barely able to walk but somehow fighting and slapping TNT every few moments. Cactus dealing damage with his bare hands. Glass screaming. Lava and Obsidian and Water fighting in a triangle.

Then Sand took a sword to the leg, and she fell. The villager raised his sword over her head, and Sand tried to stand up, but she couldn't. All around her she could hear the screams as her soldiers fell, and she could tell that they were losing. She saw her life flash before her eyes as the villager prepared to kill her…

A shrieking yell pierced the air. Both Sand and the villager froze. The shout echoed again, and Sand's eyes widened as she recognized it. The Endermen teleported into the battle, taking advantage of the moment of stunned surprise, and the villagers fell back under the attack.

The villager drew his sword back to strike, but Enderman himself teleported there and punched the villager in the ribs. The villager flashed red as it took damage, and Enderman turned to Sand, grinning. "Is it too late to join the party?" He asked, and Sand hurriedly shook her head.

Sand's forces were energized by the arrival of reinforcements, and slowly but surely, the villagers were pushed back to the forest. The Endermen were everywhere at once, and it was their attack that finally made the villagers break and run. A cheer went up from the crowd, but further along the tree line, someone stepped out and screamed "NO!"

Wilber heard it, and seconds later, his arrow pierced Villager's skull.


	7. Chapter 7

The clearing was silent. There was nothing to say. Sand and Glass and Gravel sat together, and against another tree, TNT and Redstone were both snoring. TNT was so tired that Redstone had touched him and he hadn't exploded. Creeper was curled up on the ground, sucking her thumb, and Spider was drowsing, tired enough to not be twitching.

The other Essences were all in the clearing, in various states of awakeness, but Enderman lay awake. He was on his back, hands clasped behind his head, looking up at the noon sky. Villager was alive, but she'd been taken to a prison and given medical treatment. It might have been an unusual decision, but none of them could bear any more death.

They had done their best to get medical supplies for those still on top of the hill, and the Endermen had teleported off and returned with all the things they had needed. After seeing that everything was going fine, the Essences had retreated a little ways into the forest to rest.

Enderman looked across the clearing to see the player, Wilber, seated against a tree, watching him. Wilber saw that Enderman had seen him, and the player tiptoed across the clearing, being careful to not step on anybody.

Wilber sat down next too Enderman, who reluctantly sat up. "Thanks." Wilber said quietly. Enderman nodded in acknowledgement. There was a long silence, during which Creeper moved a bit, then snuggled deeper into the grass, then Wilber said something. "I… I'd like to know. Why… why don't you like people? Are they mean to you?"

Enderman looked away. There was an even longer pause, then Wilber said "I'm sorry. It's none of my business." "No, it's alright." Enderman said, his customary angry expression almost gone. "I guess I do want to tell someone."

Wilber didn't say anything. He was aware how rare it was for Enderman to be in a good mood, so he was trying not to spoil it. Enderman shook his head slightly. "I'm not a real nice person. Whenever I showed up for something, I got all this backlash, so I just stopped going to things. I sort of… turned in on myself, if that makes any sense. It makes it hurt less, when they don't want me around."

Wilber nodded. The silence went on, only broken by the sound of sleep.

* * *

They had hastily erected a wooden shelter for their more formal meeting, and now all the Essences were inside, waiting for one more. "Where's Enderman?" Sand asked Wilber. They were standing by the door, and at that moment, Wilber remembered the conversation he'd had with Enderman earlier that day. "I'll go find him." He said.

Wilber walked out into the evening, and once the trees had closed up behind him, he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted "Enderman!" Accompanied by the usual purple mist, Enderman appeared. "What?" He snapped, and this time, Wilber heard the undertones to the anger in his voice.

"Come on." Wilber nodded in the direction of the wooden building. "We're waiting for you." It was plain that Enderman couldn't believe his ears.

* * *

They hadn't been able to find Skeleton's remains, but Sand insisted on holding a funeral anyway. It was quiet, just like the early afternoon in the clearing, but it was a sombre quiet. Obsidian had placed two of her blocks, one on top of the other, deep in the forest, as a memorial for the albino Essence.

Sand stared at the marker for a long time, then it finally all caught up with her. She burst into tears, sobbing into her hands. Gravel and Wilber each put a hand on her back, and they stood there for a long time.


End file.
